Let's Play Pretend
by pinkaffinity
Summary: [oneshot] [selphie] Her heart shattered into many, many, many pieces, and she became a realist. But... the little girl inside her wanted to play pretend.


She sat on the dock, just like she always had. Swinging her legs back and forth, back and forth, staring out into the ocean. The waves reflected off into her emerald eyes, but she couldn't close them. She just couldn't. She was the one who had to keep watch, now. Kairi used to be the one always watching, always waiting for _something_, but-

She was gone now.

She had slipped through her fingers, just like a pile of ocean-soaked sand that leaked through the cracks of her hands. She didn't realize how fast that sand seeped through, until Kairi didn't come to school. Nobody knew where she was, when she had gone, or why she had gone.

But Selphie knew. Oh, she knew. Kairi had been acting strange, lately. Always bringing up Riku and that other boy who couldn't really exist. She had left to find them, she knew she did. But nobody knew where Riku had gone either. Did Kairi? He had been gone for over a year… maybe Kairi _did_ know something…

Selphie really missed her… Kairi was her best friend. And deep down, she knew that she _wasn't_ Kairi's best friend- that position belonged to Riku… and that other boy (who still doesn't exist… or maybe he does)? But nevertheless, she loved having Kairi as a best friend. They could have girl time, gossiping about anything and everything, and it was always so much _fun_.

And Selphie loved having her as a friend because Kairi _always _listened to what she had to say. _Always_. When she would make up some story about how two people in a movie actually _should_ fall in love, Kairi would always listen, nod, smile. And that's why she loved Kairi.

Kairi wasn't like Tidus. _He _never went along with her stories or games or fantasies. He always told her that she was stupid for dreaming up make-believe stories. Dreams weren't _really_ real, and she should be more of a realist. That's what he always told her. And he never knew that every time he said that, her heart broke just a little.

So eventually, her heart shattered into many, many, many pieces and she became a realist. It's what everyone always told her to do, right? Well, Tidus and Wakka had.

And as she swung her legs over that dock, she thought her realistic thoughts. Riku had moved away to another string of islands, Kairi was taking a vacation, and that boy never, ever existed.

But the little girl inside her knocked on her shattered heart, reminding her of the stories and games and fantasies she used to trust in.

And the little girl inside her wanted to play pretend.

But she shook her head, shooing the little girl away. It can't be real.

But the little girl stayed; it was hard to push her away. And that little girl told her that the boy was _real_. He was absolutely, positively _real_!

Because even though Tidus always called her stupid and broke her heart, he didn't know anything, because he was just a dumb _boy_.

And even though Kairi just listened and smiled and nodded, that still wasn't enough for her.

And even though Selphie was adamant in _not_ believing in that boy, the little girl inside her reminded her how although Tidus mocked and Kairi just listened, there was another kid who played along.

It was a little boy with eyes gleaming with curiosity. And he _loved_ to play pretend.

One time, they pretended they lived in a jungle. They were hunters- after some ancient treasure buried in the cove.

And another time, they looked for fairies in the secret place. They found them, and caught them in a jar, so they could glow and be a makeshift nightlight (because Selphie was scared of the dark).

And another time, they got the little boy some new shoes. They picked yellow, Selphie's favorite color, and they believed that since those shoes were so big, he could jump to the moon if he wanted to.

And while Selphie swung her legs back and forth, back and forth, the little girl inside her kept telling her these stories about the little boy. A face, a name- it all came flooding back to her.

Those deep blue eyes, and that funny mess of hair, and that smile… _Sora_.

She missed him so much, but the realist fought back against the little girl. He couldn't exist. He doesn't.

But she swung her legs over the dock, and the little girl whispered a phrase, and then she believed. The little girl whispered it so softly, almost inaudibly, but loud enough to break the realist down. Break her down and send her crashing into the ocean, so the little girl could fly up to the sky and dream and wish and fantasize all she wanted.

And the phrase mended Selphie's shattered heart with its simple, carefree words. The little girl whispered it again and again, beckoning for Selphie to come fly with her. Fly to the world where they were hunters together, not just lost in the woods, and they caught fairies, not fireflies.

"Let's play pretend."

So she did.

x.x.x.x

_FIN_

**author's notes: I find this odd, but summer has begun and I'm not sleepy at all, so I just wrote this up. Snaps for me! **

**I kinda meant it to be whenever Sora woke up, so everybody remembered him again? But it kinda turned out all weird and sucky. Whatev.**

**Please review!!**

**disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts… but I can still dream, can't I?**


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